Condercum - From the Romans to the bankers Condercum...Romans named this site 'Condercum', meaning "place with a fine view". The fort was occupied for around 300 years until Roman

CondercumFrom the Romans to the bankers

Condercum - From the Romans to the bankersThis Heritage Trail takes you around some of the historic sites ofCondercum, an area of West Newcastle which was the site of aRoman fort and associated civilian settlement for 300 years from thesecond century AD. More than 1,500 years later, during the Victorianera, it became one of the most popular residential areas for Tyneside'sbusiness elite - a place of large houses and mansions in landscapedgrounds.The circular walk starts and ends at St James’ Church, following thetrail of the Roman remains and the sites of the former big houses.

Acknowledgements:Trail created by Pat Lowery and Judith Green, with help from Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums'WallQuest Community Archaeology Project, and Elsie Scott. Images courtesy of Newcastle CityLibrary, West Newcastle Picture History Collection, and Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums.Much of this Trail is based on the work of the "Benwell Big Houses Group" who researched the historyof the big houses and mansions that used to dominate the area. For more information, read "Benwell'sBig Houses: A Social History", 2011, by Mike Greatbatch.The design and production of this trail were funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund through Search'sExploring Our West End project and TWAM's WallQuest project.

Search Search is a community-based voluntary project working in the inner west of Newcastlewith and for older people. It has shop-front premises which provide a drop-in adviceand information service for people of pensionable age and it runs a variety of groupsand activities for over-fifties in community venues across the area. In 2013 Search ran a programme of guided tours to explore the fascinating and variedhistory of the west end of Newcastle, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund's "All OurStories" programme. This is the first of a series of Heritage Trails based on these tours. Contact: Search Project, 74 Adelaide Terrace, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 9JNTel: 0191 273 7443 Email: [email protected]

A heritage trail © Search Project 2014

In AD 122 Hadrian began building a Wall to cross northern Britain from coast to coast. Benwellwas chosen as the site of one of the 15 major forts spaced along its 80-mile length. TheRomans named this site 'Condercum', meaning "place with a fine view". The fort was occupiedfor around 300 years until Roman rule in Britain ended shortly after AD 410. For most that timethe soldiers stationed at Benwell were cavalrymen in a 500-strong mounted unit of Asturians,originally from northern Spain. South of the fort there was also a civilian town on the sloperunning down towards Benwell Lane, occupied by craftsmen, traders, merchants, slaves, andthe wives and children of the soldiers. The fort baths were found here in 1751, but the exactlocation of this is unknown.

Most of Roman Benwell was covered by housing in the 1920sand '30s. Part of the layout of the fort is known from rescueexcavations hurriedly carried out in 1937. Buried archaeological

remains of the Roman presence survive under present-day Benwell. WallQuest is a community archaeology project, funded by the Heritage

Lottery Fund, which offers local people the opportunity to get involved infinding out more about this important but neglected Roman site. For more information visit: Hadrianswallquest.co.uk.

Roman Fort The Roman fort at Benwell occupied thehilltop. It straddled Hadrian’s Wall which isnow under the West Road. The fort wasrectangular, protected by a stone wall andditches, and contained a headquartersbuilding, grain store-houses, commandingofficer’s house and barracks for 500horsemen. An inscription found in 1937 tellsus that the classis Britannica – the Romanfleet in Britain – helped with the originalbuilding of the fort.

TempleThe foundations of a little Roman templewere discovered in Benwell in 1862. Thetemple lay outside the fort. It was dedicatedto the god Antenociticus, who is not heardof anywhere else. The head of his cult

statue, showing a youth with flowing locks ofhair, can be seen in the Great NorthMuseum (formerly the Hancock). The smallbuilding accommodated a selectcongregation of high-ranking officers. Onewas the cavalry commander, TineiusLongus, who boasts on one of the inscribedaltars found in the temple that he hadbecome a Roman senator.

The Romans Vallum crossingThe Vallum was a great flat-bottomedditch that ran along the south side of theWall to separate the Roman military zonefrom the civilian area to the south. Acauseway carrying a roadrunning from the southgate of the fortacross theVallum wasfound in 1933. It can still beseen today atthe south endof DenhillPark. An archedgate stood on thecauseway. Theroad running onto thecauseway from the northshows three resurfacings and wasobviously used for a long period of time.

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Roman civilian settlementWallQuest project archaeology digs in 2013found much Roman pottery on a largegrassy area in the middle of PendowerEstate south of Bertram Crescent. Thissloping site was previously covered byhouses which were demolished in the 1990s.The road running south from the fort andVallum crossing ran through this area, andthe south facing slope was probably coveredwith buildings and fields belonging to the'vicus', or civilian settlement, attached to the Roman fort on the hilltop.

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St James' ChurchSt James’ Church was built in the 1830s.Before then, local residents had to travelup to three miles to attend their parishchurch, St John’s in Grainger Street. Theearly congregation included some of therichest and most influential families ofVictorian Tyneside, as semi-rural Benwellwas then a highly desirable place to live. The church was designed by JohnDobson, the most eminent architect in thenorth east. Its special features includestained glass windows by William Wailes,

woodcarvingby RalphHedley, anda sculptedmemorial byEric Gill.

SpringbankSpringbank Villa was a large privatehouse with its own grounds near the topof the west side of Condercum Road,probably dating from the 1870s. Onenotable resident was building contractorDavid Brims who was one of the first inthe country to use ferro-concrete. His

projects included the Co-operativeWholesale Society's warehouse onNewcastle Quayside, which is now theMalmaison Hotel. Later the house became the Benwell andDistrict Social Club, known locally as theSpringbank Club, which still exists todayalthough little of the original buildingremains.

Condercum Villa andLower CondercumCondercum Villa was originally home toThomas Emerson Crawhall, a memberof the influential Crawhall family whowere major players in the developmentof Benwell after acquiring extensive landholdings in the 1830s. Later occupantsincluded bank manager Arthur Ridout,and Colonel William Mathwin Angus,head of the leather and rubbermanufacturing firm of George Angus andgrandson of the company’s founder. Thehouse was demolished in the 1930s.Around this time, Lower Condercum, the

big houseimmediatelyto the south,was boughtby NewcastleCouncil toturn into aschool.

Pendower HallPendower Hall was built in the 1860s forJohn William Pease, a banker and adirector of the North Eastern RailwayCompany. The family lived there until

1919 when the house and grounds weresold to Newcastle Council. The land wasused to build some of the first councilhouses in the city, whilst the house itselfwas converted to a “open air” school forchildren with physical health problems. Inthe 1950s the school moved to newpremises nearby. The Hall was used asan education centre until 2002.

Condercum HouseCondercum House was built in 1869-70just to the west of Condercum Villa. Itsfirst resident was George Rendel, adirector of W G Armstrong & Co, whichwould soongrow intoone ofTyneside'slargest andmostsuccessfulindustrialenterprises.In the 1900sthe housewas boughtby JohnFrederick Weidner, a businessman withinterests in shipbuilding and retailing andan active local politician, becoming bothSheriff and Lord Mayor of Newcastle.Condercum Park Estate was built on thesite in the 1930s.

OakfieldOakfield was a big house standing in itsown landscaped grounds immediatelynorth of Charlotte Pit. The house itselfprobably dates from the 1860s, when itsfirst resident was John Christian Reid,owner of the Reid family firm ofgoldsmiths, silversmiths , watchmakersand jewellers. Oakfield was demolishedin the 1930s, and streets of new privatehousing were developed where thehouse and grounds had once stood.The entrance lodge still stands today atthe start of what is now OakfieldGardens.

Benwell Dene HouseBenwell Dene House was built in 1866 forThomas Hodgkin, a partner in the Newcastlebank of Hodgkin, Barnett, Pease andSpence which later became Lloyd’s Bank. In1893 Hodgkin moved to Bamburgh Castle.He sold Benwell Dene to the Royal VictoriaSchool for the Blind, which remained thereuntil it closed in 1985, and gave almost sixacres of land from his estate to the councilto be developed as a public park, still therecalled Hodgkin Park today.

WestacresWestacres House was built in the 1860son Benwell Park, adjacent to BenwellBank Top Quarry, and was originallycalled Benwell West Park. The namewas changed to Westacres whenBenjamin Chapman Browne moved herein the 1880s. Browne wasan importantfigure inTynesideindustry,holding therole ofchairman ofshipbuilders Hawthorn Leslie and Co andsetting up the Engineering EmployersFederation. He was also politicallyactive, serving as an Alderman andMayor of Newcastle, a Justice of thePeace, and Deputy Lieutenant ofNorthumberland.

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Start at St James' ChurchIf the gates are open, it is worth taking a look around the historic graveyard. This contains thegraves of some of the most significant figures in the economic and social life of Victorian Tyneside,including Richard Grainger, John Buddle and John Sowerby. Leaving the church, walk west alongBenwell Lane keeping to the south side of the road. As late as the 1920s, this was still a country lane,overhung with trees and bordered by the landscaped grounds belonging to the big houses ofBenwell's wealthier residents. The stone walls you pass along the road are the remains of theboundary walls of some of these former mansions. Stop to look at Benwell Dene House which isone of the few former big houses which is still standing, although it is no longer a private home.The house can be viewed from the courtyard entrance. It was designed by the architect AlfredWaterhouse who also designed the Natural History Museum in London. A little furtheralong you will pass the gates of Hodgkin Park, a fine Victorian park which was oncepart of the grounds of Benwell Dene House. From the gates of the park, look north-westwards to a stone wall behind which a largeturreted house stands mainly hidden by trees. This is Benwell Towers, at different timeshome to the bishops of Newcastle and to rich families such as the Shaftoes, the Crawhallsand the Sowerbys, and most recently the place where Byker Grove was filmed. Cross the road and walk up Rushie Avenue. You are passing through PendowerEstate, one of Britain's first council estates built just after the First World War to providehomes "fit for heroes to live in". Cross Pendower Way and continue up RushieAvenue. Turn right at the top along Bertram Crescent. You will pass the entranceto Hadrian School. Excavations carried out around here in 2013 as part of theWallQuest project found pottery indicating Roman civilian activity. Re-trace yoursteps along Bertram Crescent and then walk up Adair Avenue to the top whereit meets the West Road. Turn right and walk along the West Road until you reach Pendower Hall,which is currently empty. To get an idea of the scale of the Hall's grounds,note that they extended as far as Benwell Lane to the south. Part of thewall that surrounded the grounds can be seen today behind the newbungalows on Sunnybank Avenue on the eastern edge of thePendower Estate.Continue along the West Road. Note that you are now followingthe route of Hadrian's Wall. Running parallel to this to the south,along the back of the Wall, was a supply road for the Roman fortknown as the Military Way. The WallQuest project uncoveredthis in 2013 during a dig next to Pendower Hall. A short distancebeyond Pendower Hall you will come to a right turn into Denhill Park. Youare now standing near the centre of the Roman fort. Walk down here until you reachthe vallum crossing at the bottom in the middle of the houses. You may be able to gainaccess to the site if you follow the instructions on the sign.Go back up to the West Road and continue in an easterly direction until you reach another right turn,into Weidner Road. Take the first turn right off Weidner Road, and then the first left, into BroomridgeAvenue. A few yards down here you will come to the remains of the Roman Temple of Antenociticus. After leaving the Temple, retrace your steps to the West Road and continue in an easterly direction (towardsthe centre of Newcastle) until you reach the junction with Condercum Road. Turn right and start walking downCondercum Road, keeping to the right-hand side of the road. Near the top, you will pass the SpringbankClub, formerly site of Springbank Villa. The area between here and the council depot further down the roadwas formerly occupied by three big houses with the Condercum name (Condercum Villa, Condercum Houseand Lower Condercum) as well as a small cluster of cottage dwellings called Condercum Square, mainly hometo coal mining families. As you walk down Condercum Road, you will pass the Oakfield site of Trinity School,recalling the big house called Oakfield which used to be west of Condercum Road. The lodge that stood at theentrance still remains: it is now a private house, and can be seen at the beginning of Oakfield Gardens.Continue down to return to your starting point.

Key:Point of interest(see overleaf)

Route

Walk RouteThis trail was designed as a walking route but all the points ofinterest can also be reached by car. Allow approximately anhour to walk it, plus time to look at the two Roman sites. The route follows pavements and includes some uphill walking.

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